McLean County Times

Baseball Stumbles in Game One Against WashU; Game Two Suspended Due to Darkness

The Illinois Wesleyan University baseball traveled to St. Louis to tangle with Washington University in St. Louis, for a doubleheader, Saturday, March, 4 at the newly renovated Kelly Field. With a two-run, two-out, lead in the bottom of the ninth, the Bears tied the game and ultimately won in 11 innings. With the three and a half hour game, game two was suspended due to darkness, and will resume tomorrow morning, in the top of the sixth, with the game tied at 4-4, at 11 a.m. With one complete game in the books, IWU's record sits at 1-4, while WashU sits at 4-2. 

Game One: Illinois Wesleyan 5, WashU, 6 (11 Innings)
In the bottom of the third, the Bears cracked the scoreboard twice, on a pair of Illinois Wesleyan throwing errors. In the frame, sophomore Dalen Banks (Springfield, Ill.-Springfield) struck out four and allowed a seeing-eye infield single. After three innings of play, WashU took the 2-0 advantage. 

With two outs in the Titan fourth, junior Louis Perona (Chicago, Ill.-Lane Tech) stole second after reaching on a fielder's choice. With a runner on second, sophomore Keenan Burgos (Park Ridge, Ill.-Niles Notre Dame) took an outside offering and placed a double right over the third base bag, allowing Perona to scamper home to cut the Bear lead in half, 2-1.

The first three IWU hitters reached base safely in the top of the fifth. Sophomore Casey Swanson (Minooka, Ill.-Minooka) laced a line drive single to right center, while junior Nick Pratscher (Plainfield, Ill.-Plainfield East) utilized an inside-out swing and sent a single down the right field line to warrant a pitching change from the WashU bench. Junior Dino Biggers (Naperville, Ill.-Naperville Central) earned a base on balls to load the bases with no one out. Sophomore Jimmy Gurgone (Monkena, Ill.-St. Laurence) tied the game with a sacrifice fly as Swanon raced home. Senior Jalen Ping (Chatham, Ill.-Glenwood) found a pitch to his liking and drove a double to centerfield as Pratscher jogged home as IWU held the slim, 3-2, lead heading into the bottom half of the fifth.

The Bears, with two outs, manufactured the tying run on a walk, and back-to-back singles as the score stood at three apiece heading into the sixth.

A Green and White hit by pitch and a pair of walks got things going in the sixth with bases loaded and no one out. With the WashU defense playing in double-play depth, Pratscher drove in a run on a groundout as IWU re-took the lead, 4-3.

In the top of the seventh, with two outs and bases full of Titans, Pratscher delivered a key insurance run, on an 0-2 count, with a single up the middle. After Pratscher's second RBI of the afternoon, IWU's lead stood at 5-3.

Junior Luke Uhwat (Spring Grove, Ill.-Richmond-Burton) had an exceptional outing out of the Titan bullpen. Uhwat toed the rubber for three scoreless innings of work, allowing just two hits.

With a two run cushion, with two down in the bottom of the ninth, the Bears offense produced back-to-back doubles to knot the score all five-all as the game progressed to the 10th frame. Freshman Luke Costello (Downers Grove, Ill.-Downers Grove South) struck out a Bear to end the threat in the ninth.

The Bears ended the game with a walk-off double in the bottom of the 11th, to stun IWU with a final score of 6-5.

Banks tossed five innings of work, allowing three earned runs on four hits, while striking out a career-high seven and earning a no-decision. Castello took the loss in the setback (0-1). 

Both teams notched 10 hits in the contest. Perona, Pratscher, and Biggers each recorded a pair of hits.

Game Two: Illinois Wesleyan, WashU (Suspended Due to Darkness)
After losing a heartbreaker in game one, the Titans wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the nightcap. Pratscher, continuing his solid day at the plate, laced a bases clearing triple in the first as IWU raced out to a quick 3-0 advantage in the first. 

However, the cushion was short lived as the Bears tallied four runs, on six hits, to take the 4-3 lead after a high-scoring opening frame.

After neither team scored for three innings, senior Thomas Bleker (Lombard, Ill.-Glenbard West) delivered the game-tying RBI in the top of the fifth, as Ping crossed the plate. With runners on second and third and only out, IWU could not scratch across the go-ahead tally.

Due to darkness, the game will resume in the top of the 6th, with the game tied at 4-4.

Senior Will Jackson (Glenview, Ill.-Loyola Academy) got the nod on the bump in the nightcap. Jackson tossed three innings and allowed four runs in his second start of the season.

The Green and White will conclude game two against the Bears, tomorrow, Sunday, March 5 with an11 a.m. first pitch at Kelly Field. The series finale will get under way a half hour after the resumption of game two. 

Original source can be found here